AwardsWatch Podcast Ep. 235: Best Director Oscar Winners Tier Ranking – Part 2
On episode 235 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello and AwardsWatch contributors Dan Bayer, Cody Dericks, and Josh Parham conclude their tier ranking of the 97 Best Director winners from the Academy Awards.
In the second part of the Best Picture tier rankings (listen to Part 1 here), the AW team start in the 1980s and go all the way to the most recent winners of Best Director. This is where our hosts and audience are able to talk about the films they have most likely seen the most, and see the expansion of the limited “S tier,” where compromise and sacrifices of some member’s favorites are placed lower than you would be expected. But there are plenty of surprises amongst the team, leading to a fascinating final ranking of these 97 winners, including Ang Lee, Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, Sam Mendes, Steven Soderbergh, Christopher Nolan and Chloé Zhao. This was another fun exercise getting to talk about some of the best (and not so great) winners of all time and the team really hopes you enjoy this part as much as part one.
You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.
This podcast runs 3h06m. We will be back next week to review Richard Linklater’s latest film Hit Man and participate in a fun draft to determine who are the greatest movie stars of all time. Till then, let’s get into it.
Music: “Modern Fashion” from AShamaleuvmusic (intro), “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro)
- On the Shelf: ‘Mortal Kombat’ Kollection, Jackie Chan’s Breakout Hits, ‘Crime 101,’ ‘It Was Just an Accident’ Lead the 4K Physical Media releases for the Week of 6/29/26 - June 29, 2026
- AwardsWatch Podcast Ep. 350: Oscars Retrospective of the 54th Academy Awards - June 29, 2026
- AwardsWatch Podcast Ep. 349: Reviewing ‘Toy Story 5’ - June 22, 2026
Film Independent to Honor Robbie Pickering, Alysa Nahmias, Harry Yoon with Changemaker Award at 23rd Artist Development Showcase 
46th San Francisco Jewish Film Festival: World Premieres, Bay Area Filmmakers, Rachel Bloom to Receive Freedom of Expression Award 
8th African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) TV Honors: ‘Paradise,’ ‘Love Story’ and ‘Spider-Noir’ Among Top Winners 
50th San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival (Frameline50) Awards: ‘Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,’ ‘Leviticus’ and More